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Calibrating X-Ray Binary Luminosity Functions via Optical Reconnaissance. I. The Case of M83.
- Source :
-
Astrophysical Journal . 5/1/2021, Vol. 912 Issue 1, p1-17. 17p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Building on recent work by Chandar et al., we construct X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) for different classes of X-ray binary (XRB) donors in the nearby star-forming galaxy M83 through a novel methodology. Rather than classifying low- versus high-mass XRBs based on the scaling of the number of X-ray sources with stellar mass and star formation rate, respectively, we utilize multiband Hubble Space Telescope imaging data to classify each Chandra-detected compact X-ray source as a low-mass (i.e., donor mass ≲3 M⊙), high-mass (donor mass ≳8M⊙), or intermediate-mass XRB based on either the location of its candidate counterpart on optical color–magnitude diagrams or the age of its host star cluster. In addition to the standard (single and/or truncated) power-law functional shape, we approximate the resulting XLFs with a Schechter function. We identify a marginally significant (at the 1σ-to-2σ level) exponential downturn for the high-mass XRB XLF, at (in log CGS units). In contrast, the low- and intermediate-mass XRB XLFs, as well as the total XLF of M83, are formally consistent with sampling statistics from a single power law. Our method suggests a non-negligible contribution from low- and possibly intermediate-mass XRBs to the total XRB XLF of M83, i.e., between 20% and 50%, in broad agreement with X-ray-based XLFs. More generally, we caution against considerable contamination from X-ray emitting supernova remnants to the published, X-ray-based XLFs of M83, and possibly all actively star-forming galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0004637X
- Volume :
- 912
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Astrophysical Journal
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 150205499
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abe531